Carlisle hundred the only saving grace

Zimbabwe 211 for 2 (Carlisle 103*, Gripper 65) drew with Bangladesh 168
Scorecard

Stuart Carlisle reaches his hundred

Carlisle brought up his century with a drive to the cover boundary, and the ball had barely hit the fence when the umpires removed the stumps and mercifully brought the rain-decimated match to an end. The loss of three full days was always going to make for a meaningless three sessions - the real puzzle was why as many as 50 spectators turned up to watch.

When Zimbabwe wrapped up Bangladesh's innings five balls after lunch, there was briefly a hope that Heath Streak might go for broke and try for quick runs, with the aim of bowling the fragile Bangladeshis out for a second time. The sight of Trevor Gripper striding out to bat ended any such fantasy.

There was another brief flurry of excitement when, in the third over, Dion Ebrahim edged Tapash Baisya to Hannan Sarkar at second slip for 2 (5 for 1) but that was as good as the afternoon session got. Gripper, who was dismissed cheaply in both innings at Harare, set out his stall for runs by any means, while Carlisle was only marginally more aggressive.

After tea, Gripper sped up, presumably for no reason other that had he continued at his pre-interval crawl he would have had no hope of reaching a hundred. As it was, that was academic - he tickled Tapash to wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud for 65 (134 for 2). Carlisle increased his scoring and reached his hundred. His first Test century came against Australia at Sydney - there is little question which one he will look back on with more satisfaction.

In the morning Bangladesh's innings had been of a funereal pace. Play started on time - remarkable given the recent downpours - and Bangladesh's innings followed a to-be-expected course, with wickets falling and a sleep-inducing run-rate. The two-and-a-half hour session produced 80 runs and four wickets.

Zimbabwe broke through with the second ball of the day, Douglas Hondo trapping Mushfiqur Rahman leg-before for 0 (89 for 6), but for the next 90 minutes Manjural Islam Rana and Mashud held firm in a seventh-wicket stand of 37 runs made at under two an over. Sean Ervine ended the torpor when he dismissed Mashud leg-before for 9 (126 for 7), and then Ray Price grabbed two quick wickets, including Manjural for a top-score 39.

But Mohammad Rafique and Alamgir Kabir held firm for the last 40 minutes before lunch, Rafique clipping ones and twos while Kabir dropped anchor and showed little inclination to score. Their 24-run last-wicket stand was ended straight after the restart.